conkling



H. W. ELLIOTT Armeno.` s. eoNKLING, `or eosHnmN-iiwrom;

` miraoanswimcnl Specification'of` Letters` Patent No. 26,660, dated January 3, 1860.@1 p

Toall whom it mag/iconcem:

Be it knownthat we,.H-. W. ELLIOTT" and GEORGE S. CONKLING, of Goshen, in the county of Orange andi State of New York, 1

have invented new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Switches;` and .we do hereby declare that the following isaz full, clear, and exa-ct description thereof, refer-` ence beinghad to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this descriptiomin which i Figure 1,\represents a plan! view `of our improved switchrails, showing the arrangement of leversfor operating the jointedlrails whenthe train of cars is `passing inJ either direction: Fig. 2, is a section takenlngi-l tudinally.` through the center of the track, or between tv'vo` rails, showing in redlines the device for changing the position of the jointed ends' of therailsso asto switch off the train upon any of the diverging tracks. Fig. 3, isa plan View of' the shippers or levers which proceed' out,n under the engine andunder the'cow-catcher and are operated by therengineer for' changingthe switclr as1 he may desire.

Similar letters of referencerindicate cor'- tracks while going' in one direction while` cars moving in an opposite direction may pass over the switch on the main track irrespective of the position of theswitch. The engineer of course knowin before he arrives at the branch-rails, what irection he wishes to take it is only necessary for him to arrange his shippers accordingly and if the switch should not be in its proper position it will be shifted before the front wheels of his engine reach the switch rails; and if the switch should be in the desired position the precaution will not do any harm. The attendance of `switchmen is not necessary where our improvement is applied, nor is it even necessary to provide signal lights.

The entire device is automatic and placed in the hands of the engineer upon the` train who by a single movement of a lever can .establish certainty in the true movement of the switches although*` they lmaliciously changed@` j. j f Our" invention consists- `in;` operatingl the switch rails so as to:4 lshift I tlienni` may .have been?` to the right` on lefty andbringcgthem lin a linei with the main .trackibyfipe-M c culiarly shaped and arrangedleverswhichi` lare situatedi under the `cowcatcher.of` the` rengine, which levers extend` back and aregl loperatedby the engineer so that throughthe 1 i 1 f `medium of pivoted levers" of` a` suitable?.

`length.` the ends of;V the switcherails willibei gradually, but surely, elevated out ofrgyrexcesses in` thefsleeper, for the ends of the rails f i j to rest on, and shifted tothe. opposite" track-1 land in a line witlntlie\rails,fand placedi inv` grecesses opposite the rail Sends where `the?` 1 switch-rails are"` secured; against `any? lateral i thrustzoccasioned by; the passing train.` The*` f levers are f so fi elevatech` and lati the: same; ltime 1 line withthe rails over which the trainfyisl` to pass they areperniitted` tofallfin )place 1..

`byl-` their own gravity;

lat the` rail joints, may"berprotectedlfromlf 1 snow, ice, and anything: whichY would11j create The' part `formingouriiiproved i metal:

be beveled so that ice or snowwill not form" The sleepers uponK which theF levers and s\vitchrailswr'estz in their` movementi may 90 an obstruction to the movable parts ex-` j posed, all as hereinafter described as `rep-` p resented.

To enable those skilled the art tofullyk i understand our invention,` we `will proceed to describe its constructionand operation. j

By reference tothe drawingsfA, AQrep-` resent` `the permanent rails or railway, and

B, (for referenceythe branch rails. The] "l train issupposed to `becoming on the: rails j A, and it is desirable` toswitch upon those p l lettered B; D, D, are the sleepers orcrossties and E, the movablecross tie to which the ends oflthe switch rails F, F, are se` cured. Gr is a stationary sleeper `with re-1` cesses una, Fig. 1, into which thekends` of` the switch rails drop, these recessesfkeep;` the rail ends in place and in a line with` the p main rails, the ends? b, b, of switch-rails are jointed bya tongue` and groove joint` and a transverse injorybolt, so thatthey can be raised verticallyover andout of the` recesses a, a, in changing the switch; thus it is not necessary to raise the whole length of switch-rails but only a small portion of them. The switch-rails are each jointed by a vertical bolt to the cross-tie D, and their ends-have a slight, lateral play about these joints. H H are two levers having their .passing over either track A, or B, in the direction of the switch. This gives a description of the construction and arrangement of the switch which is ,to be operated by the engineer through the medium of levers arranged under the engine in the following manner: The levers are represented, by red lines, F iff. 2, in their position under the engine, an by Fig. 3 as detached from the engine and turned over so as to exhibit their underside; J is the longer and J the shorter lever; these levers both have their fulcra upon the same rod K, which has its bearings in suitable hangers projecting down from each side of the forward truck frame of the locomotive. They pass out and terminate under the cow-catcher as shown by Fig. 2 and also proceed back and are connected to vertical rods which are arranged in a convenient and handy place in the engineers box. These connecting rods which` are not shown in the drawings, have suitable catches on them by which the levers J, J may be kept in the desired position for operating the switch. The forward ends of the levers J, J are beveled as shown by Figs. 2, and 3, which beveledportions strike the ends of the levers first and depress them so as to raise the ends of the jointed portions b b of the switch rails, F, F, out of the recesses a, a, in the sleeper G; the neXt movement is to give the ends of rails F, F, a lateral thrust while elevated. This movement is effected by the oblique guides g on either lever, the forward guide moves the switch rails in one direction while the guide on the rear lever moves the switch inthe opposite direction, the pins c, c', c, being acted upon by these guides on the bottoms of levers J, J. 'f

If it should be found desirable a covering may be applied to the stationary sleeper or cross beam to vprotect the recesses from snow, ice, &c., but the necessity of this covering will be best determined in practicing our invention, and forms no part of our claim.

Having thus described the several parts forming our improvement in switching cars from one track to another what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. The combination of the levers H, H, with their pins c c c movable cross-tie E, jointed switch-rail F and sleeper G with recesses a a arranged substantially in .the manner as, and for the purposes described.

2. We claim the levers J, J having inclined ends and oblique guides g, g, arranged in such a manner under the locomotive as to be under the control of tlie engineer and so as to operate the switch in the manner herein described and represented.

H. W. ELLIOTT. GEO. S. OONKLING. 

